Twins Becks Johnson and Barb Chittock live a few thousand kilometres apart — Becks in Dunedin and Barb in Brisbane — but both launched their own home-industry businesses about the same time.
Idle time does not seem to be in the Chittock vocabulary.
Barb said being at home and breastfeeding her young son Isaiah spurred a desire to get out her sewing machine and create reusable breast pads.
‘‘There just wasn’t anything in the market over here. Becks sent me some from New Zealand [and] I realised they were something I could make myself.’’
She set about sourcing highly absorbent fabric. Her initial plan was to make some just for herself, but feedback from others led to an idea for a business and she also added in bibs. She calls her business Milk Mates.
A qualified occupational therapist, she is always looking for ways to help people and improve their quality of life, and she says that is especially true when it comes to family.
‘‘Isaiah when he is teething is a very drooly baby; to the point that he needs to be changed a few times a day. For some parents it’s a real issue as it creates quite a nasty rash. The bibs are much more absorbent than most as they are made especially for dribbly babies.’’
The feedback she had received had been very encouraging and it had led to further collaborations with other businesses.
‘‘It’s all a big unknown and very much a passion project but I am loving the people contact and having a little something for myself.’’
When her oldest son Charlie got a bee sting when he was 2 years old a cousin suggested she rub some lavender oil on the sting.
‘‘Within a few minutes he had stopped crying and was running around playing again. I thought ‘jeepers, there’s something in this’’.
A qualified massage therapist, Becks said she had always been aware of what she put on her skin and in her mouth and she set about researching essential oils.
She signed up to be a distributor of doTERRA products and then set about creating her own health and cleaning products.
It was initially just for her own family but she soon found word of it had spread and she decided to found her business Drop Home and Wellbeing Essentials.
She has spent the last few years trialling various essential oil blends for both house cleaning products and also in small ‘‘roller bottles’’ for body aches and ailments. She has come up with various products which she stocks in a handful of Dunedin retail outlets as well as online.
Her husband Richard was initially sceptical of her interest in the essential oil industry. ‘‘I think he thought that it was just hippy, wishy-washy nonsense. But he’s all for it now.’’
The sisters’ father, John, was open-minded enough to trial an oil combination Becks made for him to help him with his arthritis.
‘‘Dad can be in quite a lot of pain in his joints to the point he has to lay low at home for a few days. I made him a special blend which he rubbed on and within 12 hours he was up and back on the farm.
‘‘He couldn’t believe it. He’s a total believer in the oils.’’
While Becks and Barb toil in their passion projects, youngest sister Kirstin, who has a background in marketing and media, has taken on her sisters’ social media accounts for both businesses.
‘‘Social media just isn’t my thing and it’s been awesome to hand that over to her. It takes me half a week to think up a Facebook post where she can do it in a matter of minutes,’’ Becks said.
‘‘It’s been awesome to see Kirstin thrive in her own business venture.’’
A strong work ethic combined with the confidence to ‘‘back yourself’’ could be credited to the sisters’ parents, Barb said.
‘‘We were encouraged to work hard and believe in ourselves.
‘‘It’s a great ride and makes life pretty interesting, that’s for sure.’’
-By Alice Scott
